Neonatal phencyclidine treatment selectively attenuates mesolimbic dopamine function in adult rats as revealed by methamphetamine-induced behavior and c-fos mRNA expression in the brain.

One of the major hypotheses regarding the pathogenesis of schizophrenia is the implication of neurodevelopmental abnormality. However, the mechanism of delayed onset of schizophrenic symptoms, in which increased dopaminergic activity in mesolimbic or mesocortical dopamine systems plays a pathological role, is not known. In this study, we investigated whether the chronic blockade of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor by phencyclidine (PCP), an NMDA channel blocker, during development could disrupt the dopamine system during later life. Neonatal rats were injected with PCP subcutaneously daily from postnatal day (PD) 1 to PD 14 and their dopaminergic function was evaluated on PD 42 by rating the methamphetamine (MAP)-induced behavior. To illustrate the activated brain regions, the expression of c-fos mRNA in response to a MAP challenge was also studied utilizing in situ hybridization. Chronic neonatal PCP treatment attenuated MAP-induced oral stereotypy (licking and gnawing) and reduced MAP-induced expression of c-fos mRNA in the N. accumbens shell region and VTA but not in the N. accumbens core region, medial striatum, or substantia nigra. These results suggest that neonatal blockade of NMDA receptor, which induces a number of effects in the developing nervous system, may cause long-lasting functional changes of the mesolimbic dopamine system.